The Qur’an: A Book of Wisdom That Shapes Character
The Holy Qur’an is a book composed of texts that are learning in nature, distinct from academic texts in essence. Learning texts are conclusive, precise, discrete, and instructive in nature. Wisdom is a specialty of learning texts, attached with dire consequences for negligence or disapproval through behavioural acts of response.
The Qur’an, as a treasure of wisdom, benefits all those who acknowledge and appreciate its wisdom. The behavioural response to wisdom may be imminent, visible, and measurable through words, actions, and intents, yet the consequences, proportionate to that response, shall be reflected only in the Hereafter. Hence, it commands a change of behaviour and attitude strictly according to texts learning in nature. These are matters of dire concern for those overambitious individuals aspiring to succeed in the days to come, precisely in the Hereafter.
Philosophy, Theology, and the Limits of Human Knowledge
Philosophy, especially pure philosophy, is a specified discipline dedicated to the study of subjects beyond our span of knowability. It is concerned with all knowledge types—knowledge about entities within the scope of the knowable; speculations about unknowable realities (Hereafter, Heaven, and Hell); and estimations about subjective entities (nationalism, honesty, piety, compassion, love, hatred, etc.).
Theology is the branch of philosophy dedicated to the study of religions, specifically focused on events of the Hereafter, the relationship between man and God, noumena, and similar metaphysical entities, which are unknowable in essence. Theology, as a subject, is a human philosophy based on speculations and conjecture, thereby fixing varied goals for diverse religions. There are, thus, no common agreements on goals and methodologies among philosophers or theologians.
A secular approach to the study of theology defines religion as an element of human invention with the intent to promote general well-being, peace, welfare, happiness, and harmony. Liberal thinkers and philosophers identify religions as human innovations serving as instruments to protect the interests of the dominant class (Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx).
Every theology or ideology of secular origin claims to be the panacea for human suffering and pain. However, in reality, it is merely an illusion. Socialism claims its ideology to be the lone precursor that will eradicate the evils of exploitation and establish a framework for sustained happiness with the maximization of welfare. Capitalism claims that unchecked freedom is the key to all problems affecting human society.
Theology, as a subject, is dedicated to the study of religions and religious thought, which is split into different sects.
{And yet they say: “There is nothing beyond our life in this world. We die as we come to life, [i.e., by accident, or as an outcome of blind forces of nature,] and nothing but time destroys us.” But of this they have no knowledge whatever: they do nothing but guess.} (Al-Jathiyah 45:24)
The diverse theologies of religions stress a swarm of discrete psychological allusions, viz. mental peace; extinction of human bodily needs; disconnection from materialism; social aloofness (Sanyas, Brahmachari in Hinduism or Bhikshu in Buddhism); illusionary concepts of Mukti and Nirvana; asceticism (characterized by strict self-discipline, abstinence from worldly pleasures, and the renunciation of material comforts); Hippies (life with no moral restrictions); Charvaka (unrestricted pursuit of material pleasures); dissolution or association of human souls with one Supreme Soul (the philosophy of Wahdat al-Wujud); and so on. They are treated as sacred goals of the highest esteem. However, they are all fabricated elements of insinuation originating from the mind. They are products of speculation and conjecture.
{And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will lead you astray from Allah’s way; they follow nothing but conjecture, and they only lie.” (Al-An`am 6:116)
The realities of the 3Hs, i.e., Hereafter, Heaven, and Hell, are beyond the reach of the human span of knowability.
{For, most of them follow nothing but conjecture: [and,] behold, conjecture can never be a substitute for truth. Verily, God has full knowledge of all that they do.} (Yunus 10:36)
Islam’s Practical Approach to Success and Human Well-Being
Islam is distinct and unique in its contents, scope, and approach. The approach of Islam is pragmatic. It acknowledges human suffering and pain as real. God assures His availability to all who call upon Him in times of need—pain, suffering, and despair. It is God alone who responds to people in distress. These are blessings extended to all men and women.
{For, whatever good thing comes to you comes from God; and whenever harm befalls you, it is unto Him that you cry for help.} (An-Nahl 16:53)
{Yet, as soon as He has removed the harm from you, lo! some of you [begin to] ascribe to other powers a share in their Sustainer’s divinity.} (An-Nah 16:54)
Islam appreciates the human inner urge to succeed and attain prosperity. It provides a way of life that enables people to live happily and learn to grow fully. God urges people to lead happy and prosperous lives. He advocates seeking comfort through sleep, enjoying healthy foods, and celebrating the bonds of family, and the like. God prohibits acts that bring ignominy, shame, and despair in the end.
{They will ask thee as to what is lawful to them. Say: “Lawful to you are all the good things of life.” And as for those hunting animals which you train by imparting to them something of the knowledge that God has imparted to yourselves—eat of what they seize for you, but mention God’s name over it and remain conscious of God: verily, God is swift in reckoning.} (Al-Ma’idah 5:4)
{And those who pray, “Our Lord! Grant unto us wives and offspring who will be the comfort of our eyes, and give us (the grace) to lead the righteous.”} (Al-Furqan 25:74)
The Wholesome Personality in the Qur’anic Worldview
They are all blessings from God to every human being, whether obedient or rebellious, loyal or disloyal, virtuous or non-virtuous, belonging to any religion, class, creed, race, or time. However, the human beings fortunate enough to attract the immense love of God are people with righteous behaviour reflected through a wholesome personality. They are personalities with leadership qualities capable of addressing people of influence, riches, and status.
{“Go thou to Pharaoh, for he has indeed transgressed all bounds; and say [unto him], ‘Art thou desirous of attaining to purity?’ ‘And that I guide thee to thy Lord, so thou shouldst fear Him?'”} (An-Nazi`at 79:17–19)
They are not people surrounded by mystery, not philosophers wandering wildly in the realm of speculation, not non-performers, nor individuals confined to mosques or settled in caves. They are people commanded to live and perform within society, stay with their families, transact business, deal fairly, and the like.
It is God’s invitation to every human being to grow into a person with wholesome personality attributes. It is God’s love that desires everyone to succeed in the Hereafter. God’s love for man is reflected through His affectionate call to forgive, purify, and reward.
{Say: “O My Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.} (Az-Zumar 39:53]
The Qur’anic Personality: The Path to Success in This Life and the Hereafter
The disciplined approach of the superior management science of Islam, with its focus on a wholesome personality, provides the freedom to accumulate wealth, spend wisely, earn respect, behave with maturity, enhance one’s status, and lead a life guided by principles of virtuous living.
Islam guides individuals with common sense to achieve the cherished success of the Hereafter, defined as Grand Visionary Success (Al-Fawuz Al-Azeem), achieved exclusively through the adoption, practice, and propagation of critical value elements of personality. The critical value elements to propagate comprise a focus on self-piety, belief in God’s unity, sincere love for God, the passionate promotion of virtue, and the curbing of evils that damage society.
The systematic approach, self-contained with its vision, mission, methodology, and approach, resembling management science, is dedicated to transforming an ordinary person with common sense into a Personality in the truest sense of the term. The Personality so realized is the Wholesome Personality, defined elsewhere as the Qur’anic Personality.
The Qur’anic Personality, built on eternal principles of virtue, consists of individuals whose ambitions are extraordinary, remaining never content with the success and prosperity of this temporal world, but ambitious enough to achieve success in the world of the Hereafter.
{Verily, those who have attained to faith and do good works, and are constant in prayer, and dispense charity—they shall have their reward with their Sustainer, and no fear need they have, nor shall they grieve.} (Al-Baqarah 2:277)
True wisdom belongs to those who are committed to succeeding in this world and the Hereafter. An individual transformed into a Personality benefits both self and society. It is beneficial to the self because the elements of virtue enable it to be so. It is beneficial to society because such persons are not mere practitioners of virtue but are committed to promoting justice, sharing words of wisdom, and propagating virtue throughout society. The benefit realized as Paradise is the primary goal, while the sustained environment of justice, love, compassion, harmony, and peace created by such personalities living in a community is a supplementary benefit to society at large. Any political or social system that aspires to secure the welfare of its people can reap the fruits of such personalities in leadership roles and governance.